You've Been Hacked: Don't Compound the Problem

By Mary K. Pratt

May 7, 2007 12:00 PM ET

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Computerworld - When youre coping with a crisis, sometimes what you dont do is as important as what you do. Heres some advice from CIOs who have been there:

Dont create a power vacuum. You or a designee should be available to make decisions as your workers try to identify the technical fixes needed to contain the crisis. Also, make it clear when and how workers should escalate disagreements, disputes or any other problems that they cant handle.

Dont promise anything youre not positive you can deliver. If you fail to deliver on promises, you can hurt your credibility and damage morale even further.

Dont push through too much change too fast. Your staff can probably handle a few weeks of round-the-clock work, particularly if they are rallied around fixing a problem. But theyll quickly burn out if theyre forced to implement numerous improvements in the immediate aftermath of a crisis.

Dont be too hands-on. Its important to show solidarity with your IT staff, but you shouldnt spend too much time in the trenches. Instead, balance your time among all the constituencies you serve your workers, your colleagues, the public, the CEO and the board.

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